PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE PRESS RELEASE

San Francisco police Inspectors Holly Pera and Joseph Toomey of the SFPD Homicide Cold Case Unit served a search warrant yesterday morning, October 21, on Richard Ramirez to obtain DNA samples from him in connection with a 1984 San Francisco homicide case.

Police served the search warrant on Ramirez, known as the Night Stalker, at San Quentin State Prison where he is an inmate after being convicted of murders committed in Los Angeles in 1985. Ramirez complied with the search warrant.

Ramirez is the suspect in the April 10, 1984 homicide of 9-year-old Mei Leung committed in the basement area of a residential hotel at 765 O’Farrell St. Mei Leung lived in the hotel with her family. Just prior to the homicide, Mei Leung and her 8-year-old brother had walked home from a friend’s house.

The San Francisco Police Department Homicide Cold Case Unit is currently reviewing several other homicides that occurred in San Francisco in the 1980s to determine if Ramirez is the suspect in any other homicides that occurred in San Francisco.

Around the time of the April 10, 1984 homicide, Ramirez was known to live at two addresses: 373 Ellis St. and 56 Mason Street. Anyone who may have known or observed Ramirezz during that time is urged to contact Homicide Inspectors Pera or Toomey, 553-1145, or to contact the Confidential Tip Line, 415-575-4444.